The Reason I Stayed

I am Teacher Yang and I teach Grade 5 students in a remote school in China’s mountainous regions.

On the last day of school, two of my grade 5 students wandered through the school gate. They made their way to the gate of the teachers’ dormitory and were found by another teacher who asked what was wrong.

I heard sounds and went out. They took out a letter, two pages in length, with a big heart drawn on it. The letter thanked me for my efforts for the year. One of the girls told me her heartfelt words, that I made her fall in love with mathematics, and let me teach them again.

That semester, they were naughty, and I gradually became disheartened and wanted to leave. After reading the letter, I was relieved. They are just a group of children with different ideas. This is exactly why teachers exist. Enlightenment and education are what we need to do, rather than retreating and deserting when encountering difficulties.

I recalled the days when my students were fed snacks, when we gathered flowers together and the fragrance of flowers flooded the dormitory, and now the words from two of my students. Every frame is unforgettable for my life.

Being able to go to school and get an education is important for the future of these children. They live a very simple and basic life and work very hard to support their daily needs. Because of the remotness of these schools, it’s difficult to find teachers willing to go. When these children have teachers at school who believe in them and help them see their full potential, it makes all the difference.

WILL YOU HELP US MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?

Thank you to ZURU for underwriting this project.